JERRY JOHNSON SAVORED the sweet life at last week’s 2010 U.S. Senior Open and after some reflection decided he wants some more.
The Port Angeles native proved something to himself in finishing in a tie for 83rd at the senior championship, namely he believes he’s got what it takes to make it on the Champions Tour.
“Only 22 players shot better than me on Friday,” Johnson said of his grind-it-out 2-over-par 72.
After watching him for the better part of that round, I’m inclined to agree with him.
Fresh off his week at Sahalee, Johnson drove back home for a quick laundry stop in Ocean Shores before heading to Pendleton, Ore., for the Oregon Senior Open.
He will keep up his schedule as a teaching pro for First Tee of Olympia and compete in sectional tournaments to try and make it to Champions Tour Qualifying School this fall at Bayonet Black Horse in Monterrey, Calif.
Qualifying is a tough task, just five fully exempt spots are up for grabs.
There are 30 other spots that grant exemptions into Monday qualifiers but that’s a tough grind.
Still, Johnson is enthused.
“Our ideal lifestyle is to make the tour, sell our house in Ocean Shores, buy a small motor home and have Holly [his wife] go to caddie school.”
Mirror image
How’s this for a weird story?
Johnson’s local boy in the Open story was profiled before the tourney on King 5 television.
Fellow player Pat Diesu and his wife saw the profile, which included a re-telling of his last minute quest to find conforming irons, and saw a lot of similarities.
Diesu also had to qualify on borrowed irons, but on the other side of the continent.
You can read about that here: www.floridatoday.com/article/20100709/SPORTS/7090321/Melbourne-Beach-golfer-51-qualifies-for-Senior-U-S-Open.
The similarities don’t end there.
He and Johnson both have a younger wife and children ages 3 and nine months.
And unknowingly, Johnson set up shop on the driving range at Sahalee right next to Diesu before a practice round.
Sharing such similar stories and lifestyles, the two couples hit it off, becoming fast friends and dining together “four or five times” during the Open.
The Johnsons walked away with a standing invitation to take the kiddos down to Florida to visit with the Diesus anytime they want.
Loved his gallery
Johnson really enjoyed the increasing rowdiness of his gallery, with between 75-100 friends and family members following him around the course.
As his play picked up during Friday’s round, Johnson could be heard exhorting his buddies to “start hollering” and “get it loud out here.”
“When it got quiet, that’s when I got nervous,” Johnson said.
“If you want to know who your friends and family are, just qualify for the U.S. Senior Open in your home state and see who shows up,” Johnson joked.
“They really helped me relax and enjoy myself out there and I’m really grateful for all the support they gave me.
“It was the most fun I’ve ever had and the most proud I’ve ever been, outside of the birth of my children.”
Other tidbits
If you couldn’t tell, Johnson can spin some yarns and he likes to laugh.
Before having the honor to open the tourney on Thursday, he was feeling nervous.
“It was too quiet, nobody was talking,” he said.
So he cracked a joke to the USGA’s official starter.
“Couldn’t you get a guy with more experience to lead things off?” he deadpanned.
Nerves or not, Johnson piped his drive down the fairway on his way to an opening par.
More from the Open
I did make a mistake in my article on Sunday. Sequim resident Fred Smith works in the pro shop at SunLand Golf & Country Club but isn’t a member of the club.
In an e-mail, Smith touched on a subject I didn’t mention on Sunday: sometimes these guys make the same bad shots regular golfers do.
Most of those shots aren’t shown on television, though.
I personally saw Corey Pavin hit a snap hook on No. 10 Friday and then launch his second shot just a bit long and over the bank into the pond surrounding the green.
I was calmed by the few mistakes I saw the players make.
Smith also had a first-hand glimpse of the attention to detail the USGA pays to its tournaments.
As a marshall on No. 13 he saw an official “actually measure the height of the grass on the green.
“He indicated over the course of the tournament this would be done over 1,000 times to insure consistency for all the players.”
Retired Crescent School teacher Terry Kahler and Crescent counselor Phil Brand took in the first two days of the U.S. Senior Golf Open last Thursday and Friday at Sahalee.
Tourney veteran and one of the senior tour’s most amusing players, Fuzzy Zoeller, entertained the huge gallery by exchanging banter with Brand about prior tournaments, and Kahler came away with his program personally autographed.
The pair visited the Lexus promo tent on Friday and competed in a virtual reality contest where fans could hit three golf balls to a 165-yard virtual hole based on the Pebble Beach golf course.
Closest to the pin on the virtual hole each day received a new golf bag with the overall tournament winner receiving a five-day resort vacation.
Kahler’s third shot brought him within 2 feet, 6 inches of the hole, and his name appeared on the leader board all day as thousands of shots were taken by the fans.
He learned that his tee shot had remained the KP, earning a new golf bag.
Get in the game
Volunteers are needed for the $500,000 hole-in-one challenge set to begin Friday at golf courses in Sequim and Port Angeles.
The event, a fundraiser for the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Olympic Medical Center Foundation, will give participants a shot at banking $500,000 offered by 7 Cedars Casino, Elwha River Casino, MV Coho ferry and First Federal.
The competition is open Fridays and Saturdays from this Friday to Saturday, Sept. 4 at Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course, SunLand and SkyRidge Golf Course, all in Sequim, and Peninsula Golf Club in Port Angeles with the final event being held at Peninsula on Sept. 10.
Businesses and nonprofit organizations are welcome to volunteer as a group, with three to four people needed at a time from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (unless otherwise specified).
Promotional materials can be set up and giveaways conducted during the event by the volunteer groups.
Specific volunteer needs are:
• SunLand Golf & Country Club: Two slots from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and three slots from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14.
• SkyRidge Golf Course: One slot from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14.
• Cedars at Dungeness: One slot from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 3 and four slots from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 4.
Event organizers are also looking to borrow two-way radios to use during the competition.
For more information, phone Russ Veenema at 360-452-2363, ext. 13 or e-mail russ@portangeles.org.
Knights hold tourney
The Bob Taylor Knights of Columbus Memorial Charity Golf Classic will be held at SunLand on Saturday.
Check-in begins at 10:30 a.m. with a shotgun start at noon.
The two-person best ball competition is $25 for SunLand members and $55 for nonmembers.
There will be handicap and Callaway divisions.
The fee includes green fees and awards.
Power carts are available for $27 through the pro shop.
The organizers ask competitors to respect the course’s dress code and wear a collared shirt.
An awards ceremony will be held in the members lounge after play with dinner available from SunLand Cafe.
For more information, phone Mike Schmidt at 360- 683-9488 or Bill Wheeler at 360-582-0422.
SunLand golf camp
SunLand will hold a junior golf camp for children ages 4-18 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 16-19.
Cost is $65 per student.
For more information, phone the pro shop at 360-683-6800.
Big Blue Boosters
I must be mellowing in my “old” age. This lifelong Port Townsend Redskins fan and alumni is about to write something positive for the Chimacum High School athletic program.
I kid, I kid. I wrote a lot of nice things about Chimacum when I was working at the sports desk.
The Chimacum Big Blue Booster Club will hold its “Penny Creek Invitational” at Discovery Bay Golf Club on Saturday, Sept. 11.
Proceeds benefit Cowboy athletics.
The four-person scramble will begin with registration at noon and play kicking off at 1 p.m.
Cost is $100 per person with greens fee, a boxed lunch and a dinner and drinks coupon thrown in.
The event will include a long-drive competition, KP’s, team prizes, raffle prizes, mulligans and “buy-a-drive.”
Event sponsorship is available
For more information, phone Sabrina Hathaway at 360-437-9653, 360-531-0461, or e-mail hathaway@cablespeed.com.
Soroptimist scramble
Soroptimist of Port Townsend/East Jefferson County will hold its Scramble for Service golf tournament at Discovery Bay Golf Club on Saturday, Aug. 21.
The tournament benefits foster families.
The mixed scramble will have divisions, including a high school group.
Cost for the tournament is $275 for a foursome, which includes cart, appetizers and lunch.
The price for a single is $75.
Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. with the tourney beginning at 1 p.m.
Players will have the chance to compete for a $15,000 hole-in-one prize.
Registration forms are available at www.soroptimistpt.org/golf.htm or by phone at 360-379-1602.
Big Demo day
Port Ludlow Golf Course is bringing a good selection of the big boys in golf equipment for the “biggest demo day of the year” on Thursday.
Product reps from Ping, Nike, Adams, Callaway, and Cleveland Golf will be on site at the club from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday.
Scramble for basketball
SkyRidge Golf Course will hold a four-man, 18-hole scramble benefit for Sequim girls basketball at 11 a.m. on Aug. 28.
Cost is $40 per person with carts an optional $20 and lunch $5 more.
There’s no need to pre-register, just show up on time to play.
I’ll have more on this one next week.
Niners invitational
Cedars at Dungeness Lady Niners hosted members from seven golf clubs across the North Olympic Peninsula recently for their yearly invitational.
With the theme “Joker’s Wild” the ladies enjoyed a fun and competitive putting contest hosted by assistant pro and recent father Garrett Smithson.
After play, which was won by the team of Debbie Kahle of Dungeness, Lucy Stone of Port Ludlow, Gloria Carlson of Lake Cushman and Kitty Gross of Dungeness, the ladies enjoyed a “wonderful lunch.”
For more information on the Lady Niners, phone Cedars at Dungeness Pro Shop at 360-683-6344 for tee times.
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Michael Carman is the golf columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. He can be reached at 360-417-3527 or at pdngolf@gmail.